5/2/21

Slowly I Turn

Everything moved in slow motion for me yesterday. I'm not sure why I was so lazy, but I was. It isn't as if I wasn't accomplishing anything, but getting dressed was at the bottom of the list. Just before lunch, I was about to make myself presentable, but then...lunch. Heck, I could put off getting dressed just a little longer, couldn't I? And that's how the day went. Sometimes one just needs a day of sloth, I think.

Each morning, I turn on the grow light for the seedlings. Yesterday, I was happy to find lots of sprouted melon seeds with lots of little leaves. Looks like we'll get some cantaloupe in the garden this year after all. Now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some actual fruit. 


You might recall we had hundreds of branches down from the ice storm this past winter. We arrived home to find our landscape looking as if a war had been fought while we were away for the season. Mike has been dutifully tractoring around picking them all up. Yesterday, he touched off one of the three piles he's created. He came inside and announced excitedly that he'd just touched off the biggest fire of his life. (You must understand that Mike has been building fires for me since I was 18.)


I left him there in the picture for scale. In the image below, you can see the three piles, each as big as the one beside it. As the day wore on, he shoved the two piles on either side into the burning pile in the middle. Backyard burns are supposed to be out at sunset, and ours was burned down to smoldering ruins by the end of the day. I expect it's completely gone this morning, although I haven't walked down to check.


There are still a few more trees and branches to deal with, particularly the big Douglas Fir below. The branches are up too high to reach, even with a tall ladder. (A tall ladder would be a bad idea in any case.) We're either going to hire a crew to come in for this, or else rent a cherry picker to get those final branches down. And they must come down. It's dangerous as it is. 


While Mike was out lighting fires, I was in being slow. I stitched up another hoopful of Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage. This one is close to being finished. I know I keep saying that, but this time, I really mean it.


After that, I got to work stitching up May's "Posies" block. This is my rainbow scrap challenge for the year. I'm combining the color of the month with the little monthly stitcheries from Jenny of Elefantz for her free "Posies" BOM quilt.


Last year and this year, I've been making a concerted effort to pare down my quilts-to-be-quilted pile. I didn't make a rainbow quilt last year, and I wasn't planning to do one this year until the Posies quilt pattern came along. It was irresistible, and now I look forward to seeing the new block on the first day of each month. These are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far.


This morning, I'll be linking up to

and to


The only other sewing I did yesterday was to make a back for the I Believe in Snowmen quilt, and I cut the binding strips. You can see the fabrics I used in the image below. That red batik has been in my stash for a long time. I had a swatch of it in a "layer cake" that I won in a giveaway. I liked it so much that I went online and bought five yards. It's been in my stash for years. Now I'm glad to have a place to use it.


Just before dinner, I went outside to fill the birdfeeders. While I was out, I noticed these little daffodils blooming. They are so cute...about half the size of a regular daffodil. Suddenly I remembered ordering them when I ordered the crocus bulbs last year. This daffodil is called the "Original Poet's Daffodil."


At the same time, I ordered some of these "Riot" daffodils. This is the picture from the catalog. You can see they appear to have bright red centers...or maybe not.


Because I think these ones I've been showing several times might have been the new "Riot" daffodils. In any case, I've really enjoyed the daffodils this year. 


Now that I remembered these are the new ones planted last fall, I've realized one of my favorite things about bulb flowers is how you forget all about them, and then they come up as pretty little surprises in the spring.

Also, some of you might remember the teeth gnashing I did last spring over the Rosy Prospects peony.
It's suppose to look like this when it blooms.


Last year, mine seemed tantalizingly close to blooming for weeks. I was going outside first thing each morning to see if the magic had arrived. Never did it ever. It went straight to seed without ever blooming. It's a cruel plant. It broke my heart.


So fast forward to this year: the peonies are forming buds, but I hadn't seen a single bud on the Rosy Prospects peony. I thought it might break my heart yet again, but yesterday, I noticed this bud. Yay!


Fingers crossed it actually blooms this year. You might want to keep your fingers crossed too. It shouldn't interfere with your sewing too much. And besides, we're only talking about a month or so. You can do it. We'll all do it together. It might help to chant something too. We can start with "ommmmmmmmmmmmm." Who's with me?

As I was gathering up my camera to come upstairs and write this post, I happened to look out the dining room window. This is what I saw: the dogwood tree peeking out from behind the lilacs. So pretty.


Today I'll try to be less slothful, but no guarantees. It's Sunday morning, and that means blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Maybe those will put a spring in my step...it is Spring, after all. 

As you might guess, no housework got done yesterday, and so I'm determined to get caught up on that today. After that, I'm going to get to work on quilting the poppy quilt. 


I've selected a single thread to use in the bobbin, but I'm going to use different colors on the top. It always takes a while to get the machine set up and tension adjusted, and so I'm not sure I'll do any actual quilting today, but I should be able to get a righteous start on it no later than tomorrow. It's a lap-sized quilt, and so I don't think it will take long.

It's a sunny day, apparently, although these things have a way of changing. It might also be a good day to get out and knock down some more weeds.

14 comments:

Barbara said...

She had learned, in her life, that time lived inside you. You are time, you breathe time. When she'd been young, she'd had an insatiable hunger for more of it, though she hadn't understood why. Now she held inside her a cacophony of times and lately it drowned out the world. The apple tree was still nice to lie near. They peony, for its scent, also fine. When she walked through the woods (infrequently now) she picked her way along the path, making way for the boy inside to run along before her. It could be hard to choose the time outside over the time within. ~ David Wroblewski

Sandra W said...

I love hearing about your sloth days. You have so few of them! Usually it's go go go. Those Riot daffodils are amazing! I've never seen them before. I'd forgotten about the poppy quilt. It's beautiful.

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

Your Posies quilt is so pretty and so are the blooms in yard. I had a slothful day yesterday. I hope to be more productive today as well. Hope you have a lovely week and happy quilting.

Darlene S said...

What beautiful pictures you are sharing today, as well as good update. Mike may want to become a Fireman in his 2nd career. That is one big fire. Ok, as to not changing sleeping attire late in the day....I don't see a problem with you when you are staying inside, but here is an example you may not want to do. In the middle of our covid lockdown, while out on a walk, we saw a woman outside of her home, in the late afternoon talking to the mailman. She was still wearing her pajamas and had her bra on the outside of her PJs. Quite a sight! LOL!

The Joyful Quilter said...

I'm all for a sloth day every now and again, Barbara, but at least you managed to be productive. Hoping you get even more done today!

Julierose said...

Loving those riot daffodils--so pretty...they definitely say Spring has Sprung!!
Nice red batik...
Hugs, Julierose

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Guess making fires goes back to the time of the cave men so Mike's in good company. I almost succumbed to Jenny's Posies but then remembered the length of my to do list so opted not to. I'm enjoying watching yours develop.

KaHolly said...

Check out that beautiful poppy quilt!

piecefulwendy said...

All those daffodils are so fun to see, and I sure hope that peony blooms for you this year! Love that red fabric and that striped binding too. I never tire of seeing your poppy quilt!

SJSM said...

You have flowered blooming everywhere. Love your daffodil variations and cannot wait for the peony and poppy.

Mikes fire reminds me. We have our first fire of the season. Well, actually, it is an old fire. It sprung back to life in the CZ complex fire from last year. The CZ fire is in Big Basin in old growth redwoods. This fire appears to have hibernated in one of the old growth redwoods over the rather dry winter. A sad story losing so many of those trees. The fire has firefighters the last two days. Evidently it is very hard to put out a fire that overwintered in an old redwood. Good thing Mike is getting rid of future fire hazards now.

Cathy Smith said...

I'm gonna play Devil's advocate here regarding trimming the big fir tree. Renting a cherry picker vs. hiring a tree crew? Think of that cherry picker like an e-bike. Need I say more? Just want to keep everyone at Three Cats Ranch safe and in one piece!

Anonymous said...

In my experience peonies hate to be moved and often won’t flower for two or three years after being moved or split. Yours certainly looks like it will be a beauty.

Claire said...

I love spring flowers. And the bulb ones that keep coming back without much effort. "Sloth" and flowers ae the source of many creative ideas, I think.

ckrut said...

That title made me think of the Three Stooges. I kept waiting for someone to mention them in a comment. Love all of you posts. Have to remember to figure out how to keep following you.